Wadi Kharit is an effective drainage system dissecting the southern part of the Eastern Desert of Egypt in an east-west orientation. Due to the volcanic nature of the rocks from which it originates, the eluviation of soil along its course is distinguished into three main recognisable soil types. Three plant communities recognised in the wadi, apparently highly related to its edaphic characteristics, are identified for the first time in the Eastern Desert. The floristic composition of such communities is pretty rich in both varieties of species and their abundance values. Little resemblance exists between such communities and other communities previously identified in the northern wadies of this desert, as revealed from data obtained from previous studies in this series and other investigators.
Location of Wadi Kharit
Wadi Kharit is located in the southeastern desert of Egypt opposite Aswan Governorate.
Importance of Wadi el-Kharit
Wadis of Jararah and Wadi Kharit are considered large areas in the southeastern desert of Egypt, with approximately 38,000 km2 of coverage extensions. The geologic outcrops of the area show a wide range of stratigraphic rock units from Precambrian to Quaternary.
Research
An integration between airborne Gamma-ray spectrometric data and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) satellite image has been used to determine and highlight the main radioactive zones covering the entire area of investigation. In addition to the relationship between airborne radioactive detected zones and their different kinds of related geologic alterations. The radioelement concentration values of the equivalent Uranium (eU), equivalent Thorium (eTh), and Potassium (K) successively discriminated against several distinctive radioactive zones over the Wadi Jararah-Wadi Kharit area. Fifteen main groups of statistically significant (anomalous) zones have been distinguished and show localities that represent uraniferous anomalous zones. These could be considered a possible target of interest for ground follow-up investigation.
